Vehicular camera with electrical connector

ABSTRACT

A vehicular camera includes a housing having a front and rear housing portions, and a circuit board having a first side and a second side, with a first electrical connector disposed at the second side. The rear housing portion includes a second electrical connector that, with the front and rear housing portions mated together, electrically connects with the first electrical connector. The second electrical connector includes electrically conductive terminals that extend through the rear housing portion and that each have an inner end portion and an outer end portion. The inner end portions of the electrically conductive terminals of the second electrical connector extend from an inner surface of the rear housing portion and the outer end portions of the electrically conductive terminals of the second electrical connector extend through a wall of the rear housing portion into a socket connection portion of the rear housing portion.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 16/819,725, filed Mar. 16, 2020, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,077,805,which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/556,312,filed Aug. 30, 2019, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,589,697, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/871,174, filed Jan.15, 2018, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,399,510, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 14/992,254, filed Jan. 11, 2016, now U.S.Pat. No. 9,868,404, which is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/001,272, filed Aug. 23, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,233,641,which is a 371 national phase filing of PCT Application No.PCT/US2012/026073, filed Feb. 22, 2012, which claims the filing benefitof U.S. provisional applications, Ser. No. 61/593,962, filed Feb. 2,2012, and Ser. No. 61/446,975, filed Feb. 25, 2011, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to cameras for use in vehicles, and moreparticularly to rearview cameras.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A typical camera for mounting on a vehicle has a lens member, an imagingelement, a circuit board and housing members that connect together. Inparticular, for certain applications, such as for some applicationswherein the camera is rearwardly facing and is mounted in a rear panelon a vehicle, there can be relatively severe space restrictions for thecamera. However, other vehicular camera applications also impose spacerestrictions on the camera. Additionally, some cameras are relativelycomplex assemblies that are expensive, and can suffer from reliabilityproblems due to the number of components and the number of individualelectrical connections that are associated therewith. In particular,some cameras have a front housing which holds a circuit board and a rearhousing which mounts in a tight alignment with the front housing memberand which houses electrical connectors (i.e., pins). At the distal endof the rear housing member are the terminals of the pins, which connectvia a cable assembly to another component in the vehicle. At the frontend of the rear housing member, a jumper is typically used to connectthe front ends of the pins to the circuit board. This solution is usedbecause it accommodates variation in the positions of the pins in therear housing member and in the positions of the points on the circuitboard intended to connect to the pins.

It would be advantageous to provide a camera that addresses one or moreof these considerations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a camera for mounting at a vehicle thatincludes aligned front and rear portions of a housing and providesdirect electrical connection of electrical connectors or terminals atthe front and rear portions of the housing.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a camera formounting on a vehicle includes a front housing member that holds a lensmember, an imaging element and a circuit board with a set of frontelectrical connectors thereon, and a rear housing member that holds aset of rear electrical connectors that are directly mounted to the frontelectrical connectors (i.e., without the use of a jumper). The rearhousing member is aligned to the front housing member with respect to afirst axis. The front and rear electrical connectors are able toaccommodate misalignment along two axes which are orthogonal to the eachother and to the first axis.

By directly mounting the front and rear electrical connectors, a jumperwire is not needed, thereby reducing cost and eliminating potentialsources of circuit failures that are associated with the use of jumperwires. By aligning the front and rear housing members, the overall spaceoccupied by the camera is smaller, which is advantageous particularlywhen the camera is to be used in tight spaces.

In one embodiment, the camera includes a front camera housing member, alens member mounted to the front housing member, an imager that ispositioned to receive images through the lens member, a circuit boardmounted to the front housing member, and a rear camera housing member.The circuit board comprises circuitry that is configured or operable toreceive signals from the imager and to send signals to anothercomponent. The circuit board has a plurality of front electricalconnectors thereon. The rear camera housing member has a rear housingalignment structure that mates with a front housing alignment structureto align the rear camera housing member with respect to the front camerahousing member along a first axis. The rear camera housing member has aplurality of rear electrical connectors extending therefrom. The rearelectrical connectors are electrically connected to the front electricalconnector. One set of the sets of front and rear electrical connectorsis a set of male electrical connectors and the other set of the sets offront and rear electrical connectors is a set of female electricalconnectors. Each female electrical connector has a jaw structureincluding first and second jaws. The first and second jaws togetherdefine a second axis along which the first and second jaws clamp one ofthe male electrical connectors. The second axis is generallyperpendicular to the first axis. The first and second jaws have a widththat is sized so that the male electrical connector is positionabletherebetween over a range of positions along the second axis. The femaleelectrical connector has a jaw structure biasing member that biases thejaw structure towards a home position but permits movement of the jawstructure along a third axis that is generally perpendicular to thefirst and second axes.

These and other objects, advantages, purposes and features of thepresent invention will become apparent upon review of the followingspecification in conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will now be described by way of example only withreference to the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a camera in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a portion of the camera shown in FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 3 is a magnified perspective view of a female electrical connectorassembly from the camera shown in FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 4 is a magnified perspective side view of a female electricalconnector from the female electrical connector assembly shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a magnified sectional end view of the female electricalconnector assembly shown in FIG. 3 ;

FIG. 6 is a magnified sectional perspective view of the femaleelectrical connector assembly shown in FIG. 3 ;

FIG. 7 is an exploded view of the female electrical connector assemblyshown in FIG. 3 ; and

FIGS. 8 a and 8 b are perspective views illustrating stages of assemblyof the female electrical connector assembly shown in FIG. 3 .

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference is made to FIG. 1 , which shows a camera 10 for use in avehicle (not shown), and in particular for use as a rearview camera in avehicle. The camera 10 includes an optical element or lens assembly orlens member 12, a circuit board 14, an imager 15, a front housing member16 and a rear housing member 18 (shown in FIG. 1 as being transparent).The lens member 12 may be any suitable lens member known in the art, andis mounted to the front housing member 16. In some instances the lensmember 12 may a separate element from the front housing member 16, or itmay be integral with the front housing member 16.

Note that the terms ‘front’ and ‘rear’ as used in the present documentrefer to the front of the camera 10 (i.e., the portion of the camerawhere the lens member is located), and the rear of the camera 10 (i.e.,the portion of the camera 10 opposite the front of the camera 10). Whenthe camera 10 is used in a rearview application in a vehicle (such aswhen the camera is mounted at a rear portion of a vehicle and has arearward field of view rearward of the vehicle), the front of the camera10 thus faces rearwardly relative to the vehicle and the rear of thecamera 10 faces towards the front of the vehicle.

The lens member 12 is positioned in a selected position to receiveimages and focus them on the imager 15. The imager 15 may be anysuitable imaging element, such as an imaging array of photosensors orsuch as a charge-coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal-oxidesemiconductor (CMOS) sensor, such as discussed below. The circuit board14 receives signals from the imager 15 and sends signals to one or moreother components of the vehicle, such as a control device (not shown)within the vehicle. The imaging element 15 may be mounted directly ontothe circuit board 14. The circuit board 14 is mounted to the fronthousing member 16.

Referring to FIG. 2 , the rear housing member 18 mounts to the fronthousing member 16 in a fixed position by virtue of an alignmentstructure 22, which aligns the rear housing member 18 in a specificposition relative to the front housing member 16. The alignmentstructure 22 may be made up of any suitable rear housing alignmentstructure and any suitable front housing alignment structure which matetogether to align the rear housing portion 18 with respect to the fronthousing member 16 along a first axis 27. For example, the alignmentstructure 22 may include a peripheral edge portion 24 on the rearhousing member 18 that mates with a press fit onto a peripheral shoulder26 on the front housing member 16. In an alternative embodiment, thealignment structure 22 may include a plurality of threaded fasteners(not shown), which pass through fastener apertures (not shown) on one ofthe housing members 16 or 18 and into threaded apertures (not shown) inthe other of the housing members 16 or 18. An adhesive or some othermeans of joining or permanently joining the front and rear housingmembers 16 and 18 together may also be provided. For example, thehousing members 16 and 18 may be welded together or otherwise bonded orjoined.

The front and rear housing members 16 and 18 may be made from anysuitable material, such as a polymeric material, such as a materialcalled XENOY™ from Sabic Americas, Inc. in Houston, Tex., USA.Alternatively to XENOY™, any other type of PBT (PolybutyleneTerephthalate) or PBT/PC (a blend of Polybutylene Terephthalate andPolycarbonate) or other suitable material may be used. In instanceswherein the front and rear housing members 16 and 18 may build up astatic electrical charge, it is preferable to provide means to inhibitsuch a buildup so as to protect components such as the circuit board 14.

A set of front electrical connectors 20 are connected to the circuitboard 14, which are female electrical connectors. The rear housingmember 18 has a set of rear electrical connectors 28 therein which, inthe illustrated embodiment, are male electrical connectors. The rearelectrical connectors 28 may be incorporated into the rear housingmember 18 by any suitable means, such as by insert molding. The maleelectrical connectors 28 have first terminals 29 that mate with thefemale electrical connectors 20 on the circuit board 14, and secondterminals 32, which are contained in a vehicle connection portion 30 ofthe rear housing member 18. The vehicle connection portion 30 isconfigured to connect to or receive a vehicle connector (such as aconnector of a vehicle wiring harness or the like), which connects thecircuit board 14 to some other component in the vehicle such as acontrol unit (not shown). The vehicle connection portion 30 need not beas shown. For example, the vehicle connection portion 30 may insteadinclude a wire harness connected to the male electrical connectors 28,and a housing with pins therein connected to a distal end of the wireharness.

Reference is made to FIG. 3 , which shows a female electrical connectorassembly 33, which the female electrical connectors are a part of. Thefemale electrical connector assembly 33 includes a plurality of thefemale electrical connectors 20 and a connector housing 34. Referring toFIG. 4 , each female electrical connector 20 has a jaw structure 35including first and second jaws 36 and 38. The first and second jaws 36and 38 are biased towards each other so that they clamp the maleelectrical connector 28 therebetween. The first and second jaws 36 and38 together define a clamping line 42 may be referred to as a secondaxis along which they clamp the male electrical connector 28. The jaws36 and 38 have a width W_(j) that is larger than the width (shown at Wmin FIG. 4 ) of the male electrical connector 28 so that the maleelectrical connector 28 is positionable between the jaws 36 and 38 overa range of positions along the second axis 42. The jaws 36 and 38 arebiased towards each other by jaw biasing members 44 and 46, which may beany suitable biasing members such as leaf springs. The jaw structure 35is biased towards a home position by a jaw structure biasing member 48,to which the jaw structure 35 is connected. The jaw structure biasingmember 48 may be any suitable biasing member such as a leaf spring andpermits movement of the jaw structure 35 along a third axis 50 (see FIG.5 ) that is generally perpendicular to the first and second axes 27 and42. As a result, the male electrical connector 28 can be received in thejaws 36 and 38 of the female electrical connector 20 over a range ofpositions along the third axis 50.

The female electrical connector 20 further includes a contact 52 that ispositioned for connecting to the circuit board 14. The contact 52 has asuitable surface area over which to connect to an electrical trace onthe circuit board 14. The female electrical connector 20 furtherincludes a clamp portion 54, which is sized to clamp onto a base member56 (FIGS. 6 and 7 ) that forms part of the connector housing 34. Thecontact 52 forms part of the clamp portion 54.

The female electrical connector 20 is preferably formed from a singlepiece of material that is cut and bent as necessary. The connector 20may be made from any suitable material, such as a copper alloy or thelike. An example material is tin-plated C15219 phosphor bronze, butother materials may be used.

Referring to FIG. 7 , the base member 56 includes a plurality of clampreceiving portions 58 which are sized to snugly receive the clampportions 54 of the female electrical connectors 20, thereby forming apre-assembly 60 (FIG. 8 b ) that is self-supporting and that can behandled as a single item so as to facilitate assembly of the camera 10.As shown in FIG. 8 a , the base member 56 may be configured such thatsuccessive female electrical connectors 20 alternately connect to thebase member 56 from one side shown at 62 and then from the other sideshown at 64, which facilitates placement of the female electricalconnectors 20 onto the base member 56.

The connector housing 34 further includes an upper member 66, whichcooperates with the base member 56 to form chambers 68, each of whichhouses one of the female electrical connectors 20 (shown in FIGS. 7 and3 ). The chambers 68 are defined by chamber walls 70, which include foreand aft walls 70 a, divider walls 70 b and end walls 70 c. Referring toFIG. 5 , one of the chambers 68 is shown. As shown, the fore and aftwalls 70 a serve to limit the movement of the jaw structure 35 along thethird axis 50.

The upper member 66 cooperates with the base member 56 to form thedivider walls 70 b. More particularly, the divider walls 70 b have lowerportions 72 which are portions of the base member 56 and upper portions74 which are portions of the upper member 66.

During entry of the male electrical connector 28 into the femaleelectrical connector 20 the male electrical connector 28 will drive thejaw structure 35 of the female electrical connector 20 in a firstdirection shown by arrow 77 (i.e., downwards in FIG. 5 ). An entry limitmember 76 is provided on one of the chamber walls 70 (e.g., the lowerportion 72 of the divider wall 70 b), which is engaged by an entry limitshoulder 78 on the female electrical connector 20 to limit the amount ofdownward movement that the jaw structure 35 will incur during entry ofthe male electrical connector 28.

During withdrawal of the male electrical connector 28 from the femaleelectrical connector 20, the male electrical connector 28 will pull thejaw structure 35 of the female electrical connector 20 in a seconddirection 79 (i.e., upwards in FIG. 5 ) so as to withdraw it from thechamber 68. A withdrawal limit member 80 is provided on one of thechamber walls 70 (e.g., the upper portion 74 of the divider wall 70 b),which is engaged by a withdrawal limit shoulder 82 on the femaleelectrical connector 20 to limit the amount of upward movement that thejaw structure 35 will incur during withdrawal of the male electricalconnector 28.

The connector housing 34 may be made from any suitable material, such asan electrically insulative material so as to limit or prevent conductionof electrical signals between adjacent female electrical connectors 20.An example material is Nylon 9T, but other suitable materials may beused.

The upper member 66 may connect to the base member 56 fixedly, such asby way of a suitable adhesive. As an alternative to adhesive, amechanical means may be used, such as snap features, or interferenceribs that would provide a force fit. Alternatively, the upper member 66may connect to the circuit board 14 using some suitable means such as anadhesive and may engage the base member 56 without being connected tothe base member 56.

As a result of the configuration of the female electrical connectors 20,the male electrical connectors 28 and the female electrical connectors20 need not be precisely aligned with respect to either of the second orthird axes in order for them to mate together to form a strongelectrical connection without causing undue stresses on each other. As aresult, the rear housing member 18 can be aligned with the front housingmember 16 without damaging the connectors 20 and 28 and while providinga strong electrical connection therebetween. By aligning the front andrear housing members 16 and 18 together, greater control over theoverall dimensions of the camera 10 are provided, as compared to anassembly where the rear housing ‘floats’ relative to the front housingmember. As a result, the camera 10 can fit in a smaller space than asimilar camera 10 with a floating rear housing member, which isadvantageous in today's vehicles where there is a continuing need to fitsuch cameras in ever shrinking spaces. Further, the non-floating rearhousing member 18 may be used as a datum feature during installation ofthe camera to maintain tight tolerances relative to a camera with afloating rear housing member.

The camera 10 need not be mounted at the rear of a vehicle or as arearview camera at all. The camera may be mounted anywhere suitableabout the vehicle. For example, the camera could face the front or sideof the vehicle, or may, for example, face the rear of the vehicle whilebeing mounted on the side of the vehicle (e.g., such as for blind-spotmonitoring for the vehicle or the like).

In the illustrated embodiment, the front electrical connectors 20 arefemale electrical connectors and the rear electrical connectors 28 aremale electrical connectors. It is alternatively possible to provide themale electrical connectors on the circuit board 14 as the frontelectrical connectors and the female electrical connectors as the rearelectrical connectors.

The camera or imager or imaging sensor may comprise any suitable cameraor imager or sensor. Optionally, the camera may comprise a “smartcamera” that includes the imaging sensor array and associated circuitryand image processing circuitry and electrical connectors and the like aspart of a camera module, such as by utilizing aspects of the visionsystems described in U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/563,965,filed Nov. 28, 2011, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference inits entirety.

The vehicle may include any type of sensor or sensors, such as imagingsensors or radar sensors or lidar sensors or ultrasonic sensors or thelike. The imaging sensor or camera may capture image data for imageprocessing and may comprise any suitable camera or sensing device, suchas, for example, an array of a plurality of photosensor elementsarranged in 640 columns and 480 rows (a 640×480 imaging array), with arespective lens focusing images onto respective portions of the array.The photosensor array may comprise a plurality of photosensor elementsarranged in a photosensor array having rows and columns. The logic andcontrol circuit of the imaging sensor may function in any known manner,such as in the manner described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,550,677; 5,877,897;6,498,620; 5,670,935; 5,796,094 and/or 6,396,397, and/or U.S.provisional applications, Ser. No. 61/600,205, filed Feb. 17, 2012; Ser.No. 61/588,833, filed Jan. 20, 2012; Ser. No. 61/583,381, filed Jan. 5,2012; Ser. No. 61/579,682, filed Dec. 23, 2011; Ser. No. 61/570,017,filed Dec. 13, 2011; Ser. No. 61/568,791, filed Dec. 9, 2011; Ser. No.61/567,446, filed Dec. 6, 2011; Ser. No. 61/567,150, filed Dec. 6, 2011;Ser. No. 61/565,713, filed Dec. 1, 2011; Ser. No. 61/559,970, filed Nov.15, 2011; Ser. No. 61/552,167, filed Oct. 27, 2011; Ser. No. 61/540,256,filed Sep. 28, 2011; Ser. No. 61/513,745, filed Aug. 1, 2011; Ser. No.61/511,738, filed Jul. 26, 2011; and/or Ser. No. 61/503,098, filed Jun.30, 2011, which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties. The system may communicate with other communication systemsvia any suitable means, such as by utilizing aspects of the systemsdescribed in PCT Application No. PCT/US10/038477, filed Jun. 14, 2010and published Dec. 16, 2010 as International Publication No. WO2010/144900, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/202,005, filedAug. 17, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,126,525, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

The camera or cameras may comprise any suitable cameras or imagingsensors or camera modules, and may utilize aspects of the cameras orsensors described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/091,359, filedApr. 24, 2008 and published Oct. 1, 2009 as U.S. Publication No.US-2009-0244361, and/or Ser. No. 13/260,400, filed Sep. 26, 2011, nowU.S. Pat. Nos. 8,542,451, and/or 7,965,336 and/or 7,480,149, which arehereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. The imagingarray sensor may comprise any suitable sensor, and may utilize variousimaging sensors or imaging array sensors or cameras or the like, such asa CMOS imaging array sensor, a CCD sensor or other sensors or the like,such as the types described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,550,677; 5,670,935;5,760,962; 5,715,093; 5,877,897; 6,922,292; 6,757,109; 6,717,610;6,590,719; 6,201,642; 6,498,620; 5,796,094; 6,097,023; 6,320,176;6,559,435; 6,831,261; 6,806,452; 6,396,397; 6,822,563; 6,946,978;7,339,149; 7,038,577; 7,965,336; 7,004,606 and/or 7,720,580, and/or PCTApplication No. PCT/US2008/076022, filed Sep. 11, 2008 and publishedMar. 19, 2009 as International Publication No. WO 2009/036176, and/orPCT Application No. PCT/US2008/078700, filed Oct. 3, 2008 and publishedApr. 9, 2009 as International Publication No. WO 2009/046268, which areall hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Theimaging device and control and image processor and any associatedillumination source, if applicable, may comprise any suitablecomponents, and may utilize aspects of the cameras and vision systemsdescribed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,550,677; 5,877,897; 6,498,620; 5,670,935;5,796,094; 6,396,397; 6,806,452; 6,690,268; 7,005,974; 7,123,168;7,004,606; 6,946,978; 7,038,577; 6,353,392; 6,320,176; 6,313,454 and6,824,281, and/or International Publication No. WO 2010/099416,published Sep. 2, 2010, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US10/47256, filedAug. 31, 2010 and published Mar. 10, 2011 as International PublicationNo. WO 2011/028686, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/508,840,filed Jul. 24, 2009, and published Jan. 28, 2010 as U.S. Pat.Publication No. US 2010-0020170; and/or U.S. provisional applications,Ser. No. 61/511,738, filed Jul. 26, 2011; and/or Ser. No. 61/503,098,filed Jun. 30, 2011, which are all hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

The camera module and circuit chip or board and imaging sensor may beimplemented and operated in connection with various vehicularvision-based systems, and/or may be operable utilizing the principles ofsuch other vehicular systems, such as a vehicle headlamp control system,such as the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,796,094; 6,097,023;6,320,176; 6,559,435; 6,831,261; 7,004,606; 7,339,149 and/or 7,526,103,which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties, a rain sensor, such as the types disclosed in commonlyassigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,353,392; 6,313,454; 6,320,176 and/or7,480,149, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties, a vehicle vision system, such as a forwardly, sidewardly orrearwardly directed vehicle vision system utilizing principles disclosedin U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,550,677; 5,670,935; 5,760,962; 5,877,897; 5,949,331;6,222,447; 6,302,545; 6,396,397; 6,498,620; 6,523,964; 6,611,202;6,201,642; 6,690,268; 6,717,610; 6,757,109; 6,802,617; 6,806,452;6,822,563; 6,891,563; 6,946,978 and/or 7,859,565, which are all herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties, a trailer hitchingaid or tow check system, such as the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.7,005,974, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety, a reverse or sideward imaging system, such as for a lanechange assistance system or lane departure warning system or for a blindspot or object detection system, such as imaging or detection systems ofthe types disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,881,496; 7,720,580; 7,038,577;5,929,786 and/or 5,786,772, and/or U.S. provisional application Ser. No.60/618,686, filed Oct. 14, 2004, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties, a video device for internal cabinsurveillance and/or video telephone function, such as disclosed in U.S.Pat. Nos. 5,760,962; 5,877,897; 6,690,268 and/or 7,370,983, and/or U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/538,724, filed Jun. 13, 2005 andpublished Mar. 9, 2006 as U.S. Publication No. US-2006-0050018-A1, whichare hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties, atraffic sign recognition system, a system for determining a distance toa leading or trailing vehicle or object, such as a system utilizing theprinciples disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,396,397 and/or 7,123,168, whichare hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties, and/orthe like.

Optionally, the circuit board or chip may include circuitry for theimaging array sensor and or other electronic accessories or features,such as by utilizing compass-on-a-chip or EC driver-on-a-chip technologyand aspects such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,255,451 and/or7,480,149; and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/226,628, filedSep. 14, 2005 and published Mar. 23, 2006 as U.S. Publication No.US-2006-0061008, and/or Ser. No. 12/578,732, filed Oct. 14, 2009 andpublished Apr. 22, 2010 as U.S. Publication No. US-2010-0097469, whichare hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Optionally, the vision system may include a display for displayingimages captured by one or more of the imaging sensors for viewing by thedriver of the vehicle while the driver is normally operating thevehicle. Optionally, for example, the vision system may include a videodisplay device disposed at or in the interior rearview mirror assemblyof the vehicle, such as by utilizing aspects of the video mirror displaysystems described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,690,268 and/or U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/333,337, filed Dec. 21, 2011 and published Jun.28, 2012 as U.S. Publication No. US-2012-0162427, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties. The video mirrordisplay may comprise any suitable devices and systems and optionally mayutilize aspects of the compass display systems described in U.S. Pat.Nos. 7,370,983; 7,329,013; 7,308,341; 7,289,037; 7,249,860; 7,004,593;4,546,551; 5,699,044; 4,953,305; 5,576,687; 5,632,092; 5,677,851;5,708,410; 5,737,226; 5,802,727; 5,878,370; 6,087,953; 6,173,508;6,222,460; 6,513,252 and/or 6,642,851, and/or European patentapplication, published Oct. 11, 2000 under Publication No. EP 0 1043566,and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/226,628, filed Sep. 14, 2005and published Mar. 23, 2006 as U.S. Publication No. US-2006-0061008,which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties. Optionally, the video mirror display screen or device may beoperable to display images captured by a rearward viewing camera of thevehicle during a reversing maneuver of the vehicle (such as responsiveto the vehicle gear actuator being placed in a reverse gear position orthe like) to assist the driver in backing up the vehicle, and optionallymay be operable to display the compass heading or directional headingcharacter or icon when the vehicle is not undertaking a reversingmaneuver, such as when the vehicle is being driven in a forwarddirection along a road (such as by utilizing aspects of the displaysystem described in PCT Application No. PCT/US2011/056295, filed Oct.14, 2011 and published Apr. 19, 2012 as International Publication No. WO2012/051500, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety). Optionally, the vision system (utilizing the rearward facingcamera and other cameras disposed at the vehicle with exterior fields ofview) may the camera or cameras may be part of a vehicle vision systemand the vision system may comprise or utilize a plurality of cameras,and the vision system (utilizing a rearward facing camera and sidewardlyfacing cameras and a forwardly facing cameras disposed at the vehicle)may provide a display of a top-down view or birds-eye view of thevehicle or a surround view at the vehicle, such as by utilizing aspectsof the vision systems described in PCT Application No. PCT/US10/25545,filed Feb. 26, 2010 and published on Sep. 2, 2010 as InternationalPublication No. WO 2010/099416, and/or PCT Application No.PCT/US10/47256, filed Aug. 31, 2010 and published Mar. 10, 2011 asInternational Publication No. WO 2011/028686, and/or U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/333,337, filed Dec. 21, 2011 and published Jun.28, 2012 as U.S. Publication No. US-2012-0162427, and/or U.S.provisional applications, Ser. No. 61/570,017, filed Dec. 13, 2011; Ser.No. 61/559,970, filed Nov. 15, 2011; and/or Ser. No. 61/540,256, filedSep. 28, 2011, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties.

Optionally, the video mirror display may be disposed rearward of andbehind the reflective element assembly and may comprise a display suchas the types disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,855,755; 5,530,240;6,329,925; 7,855,755; 7,626,749; 7,581,859; 7,446,650; 7,370,983;7,338,177; 7,274,501; 7,255,451; 7,195,381; 7,184,190; 5,668,663;5,724,187 and/or 6,690,268, and/or in U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/226,628, filed Sep. 14, 2005 and published Mar. 23, 2006 as U.S.Publication No. US-2006-0061008; and/or Ser. No. 10/538,724, filed Jun.13, 2005 and published Mar. 9, 2006 as U.S. Publication No.US-2006-0050018, which are all hereby incorporated herein by referencein their entireties. The display is viewable through the reflectiveelement when the display is activated to display information. Thedisplay element may be any type of display element, such as a vacuumfluorescent (VF) display element, a light emitting diode (LED) displayelement, such as an organic light emitting diode (OLED) or an inorganiclight emitting diode, an electroluminescent (EL) display element, aliquid crystal display (LCD) element, a video screen display element orbacklit thin film transistor (TFT) display element or the like, and maybe operable to display various information (as discrete characters,icons or the like, or in a multi-pixel manner) to the driver of thevehicle, such as passenger side inflatable restraint (PSIR) information,tire pressure status, and/or the like. The mirror assembly and/ordisplay may utilize aspects described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,184,190;7,255,451; 7,446,924 and/or 7,338,177, which are all hereby incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties. The thicknesses and materialsof the coatings on the substrates of the reflective element may beselected to provide a desired color or tint to the mirror reflectiveelement, such as a blue colored reflector, such as is known in the artand such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,910,854; 6,420,036 and/or7,274,501, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties.

Optionally, the display or displays and any associated user inputs maybe associated with various accessories or systems, such as, for example,a tire pressure monitoring system or a passenger air bag status or agarage door opening system or a telematics system or any other accessoryor system of the mirror assembly or of the vehicle or of an accessorymodule or console of the vehicle, such as an accessory module or consoleof the types described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,289,037; 6,877,888;6,824,281; 6,690,268; 6,672,744; 6,386,742 and 6,124,886, and/or U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/538,724, filed Jun. 13, 2005 andpublished Mar. 9, 2006 as U.S. Publication No. US-2006-0050018, whichare hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

While the above description constitutes a plurality of embodiments ofthe present invention, it will be appreciated that the present inventionis susceptible to further modification and change without departing fromthe fair meaning of the accompanying claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A vehicular camera, the vehicular cameracomprising: a housing comprising a front housing portion and a rearhousing portion; a circuit board having a first side and a second sideopposite the first side and separated by a thickness of the circuitboard, wherein a first electrical connector is disposed at the secondside of the circuit board; wherein the rear housing portion mates withthe front housing portion to encase the circuit board in the housing;wherein the rear housing portion comprises a second electrical connectorthat, with the rear housing portion mated with the front housingportion, electrically connects with the first electrical connector;wherein the rear housing portion comprises a socket connection portionconfigured to electrically connect to a plug connection portion of avehicle wire harness when the vehicular camera is disposed at a vehicle;wherein the second electrical connector comprises electricallyconductive terminals that extend through the rear housing portion;wherein each of the electrically conductive terminals comprises an innerend portion and an outer end portion, and wherein the inner end portionis physically and electrically contiguous with the outer end portion;wherein the inner end portions of the electrically conductive terminalsof the second electrical connector comprise male connectors that extendfrom an inner surface of the rear housing portion and are received inand electrically connect with respective female connectors of the firstelectrical connector at the second side of the circuit board when therear housing portion is mated with the front housing portion; wherein,as the rear housing portion is mated with the front housing portion, thefemale connectors of the first electrical connector accommodatemisalignment of the first electrical connector and the second electricalconnector; wherein, with the male connectors of the second electricalconnector received in respective female connectors of the firstelectrical connector at the second side of the circuit board, the rearhousing portion is attached at the front housing portion; and whereinthe outer end portions of the electrically conductive terminals of thesecond electrical connector extend through a wall of the rear housingportion into the socket connection portion of the rear housing portion.2. The vehicular camera of claim 1, wherein the female connectors of thefirst electrical connector are biased towards a home position.
 3. Thevehicular camera of claim 1, wherein movement of a respective femaleconnector of the first electrical connector is permitted along anadjustment axis that is transverse to a longitudinal axis of therespective male connector of the second electrical connector.
 4. Thevehicular camera of claim 1, wherein a respective female connector ofthe first electrical connector accommodates misalignment of therespective male connector of the second electrical connector along anaxis that is transverse to a longitudinal axis of the respective maleconnector of the second electrical connector.
 5. The vehicular camera ofclaim 1, wherein a respective female connector of the first electricalconnector accommodates misalignment of the respective male connector ofthe second electrical connector along two axes that are transverse toeach other and that are transverse to a longitudinal axis of therespective male connector of the second electrical connector.
 6. Thevehicular camera of claim 1, wherein the rear housing portion comprisesrear housing alignment structure that mates with front housing alignmentstructure of the front housing portion to align the rear housing portionwith respect to the front housing portion as the rear housing portion ismated with the front housing portion.
 7. The vehicular camera of claim1, wherein, as the rear housing portion is mated with the front housingportion, the male connectors of the second electrical connector areinserted into the respective female connectors of the first electricalconnector until a stop element at the first electrical connector limitsmovement of the male connectors of the second electrical connectorrelative to the first electrical connector.
 8. The vehicular camera ofclaim 7, wherein the stop element is part of a connector housing at thefirst electrical connector.
 9. The vehicular camera of claim 1, wherein,with the male connectors of the second electrical connector received inrespective female connectors of the first electrical connector at thesecond side of the circuit board, the rear housing portion is attachedat the front housing portion via at least one threaded fastener.
 10. Thevehicular camera of claim 1, wherein, with the male connectors of thesecond electrical connector received in respective female connectors ofthe first electrical connector at the second side of the circuit board,the rear housing portion is attached at the front housing portion via aplurality of threaded fasteners.
 11. The vehicular camera of claim 10,wherein the plurality of threaded fasteners pass through respectivefastener apertures on one of the front housing portion and the rearhousing portion and are threaded into threaded apertures of the other ofthe front housing portion and the rear housing portion.
 12. Thevehicular camera of claim 1, wherein the housing comprises alignmentstructure to align the rear housing portion with respect to the fronthousing portion as the rear housing portion is mated with the fronthousing portion.
 13. The vehicular camera of claim 12, wherein thealignment structure comprises a plurality of threaded fasteners thatpass through fastener apertures on one of the front housing portion andthe rear housing portion and that are threaded into threaded aperturesof the other of the front housing portion and the rear housing portion.14. The vehicular camera of claim 1, wherein with the male connectors ofthe second electrical connector received in respective female connectorsof the first electrical connector at the second side of the circuitboard, the rear housing portion is attached at the front housing portionvia welding.
 15. The vehicular camera of claim 1, wherein the fronthousing portion comprises a plastic front housing portion, and whereinthe rear housing portion comprises a plastic rear housing portion. 16.The vehicular camera of claim 1, wherein an imaging element is disposedat the first side of the circuit board.
 17. The vehicular camera ofclaim 16, wherein the imaging element comprises a complementarymetal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) imaging sensor.
 18. A vehicular camera,the vehicular camera comprising: a housing comprising a front housingportion and a rear housing portion; wherein the front housing portioncomprises a plastic front housing portion, and wherein the rear housingportion comprises a plastic rear housing portion; a circuit board havinga first side and a second side opposite the first side and separated bya thickness of the circuit board, wherein a first electrical connectoris disposed at the second side of the circuit board; wherein the rearhousing portion mates with the front housing portion to encase thecircuit board in the housing; wherein the rear housing portion comprisesa second electrical connector that, with the rear housing portion matedwith the front housing portion, electrically connects with the firstelectrical connector; wherein the rear housing portion comprises asocket connection portion configured to electrically connect to a plugconnection portion of a vehicle wire harness when the vehicular camerais disposed at a vehicle; wherein the second electrical connectorcomprises electrically conductive terminals that extend through the rearhousing portion; wherein each of the electrically conductive terminalscomprises an inner end portion and an outer end portion, and wherein theinner end portion is physically and electrically contiguous with theouter end portion; wherein the inner end portions of the electricallyconductive terminals of the second electrical connector comprise maleconnectors that extend from an inner surface of the rear housing portionand are received in and electrically connect with respective femaleconnectors of the first electrical connector at the second side of thecircuit board when the rear housing portion is mated with the fronthousing portion; wherein, as the rear housing portion is mated with thefront housing portion, the female connectors of the first electricalconnector accommodate misalignment of the first electrical connector andthe second electrical connector; wherein, with the male connectors ofthe second electrical connector received in respective female connectorsof the first electrical connector at the second side of the circuitboard, the rear housing portion is attached at the front housing portionvia welding; and wherein the outer end portions of the electricallyconductive terminals of the second electrical connector extend through awall of the rear housing portion into the socket connection portion ofthe rear housing portion.
 19. The vehicular camera of claim 18, whereinmovement of a respective female connector of the first electricalconnector is permitted along an adjustment axis that is transverse to alongitudinal axis of the respective male connector of the secondelectrical connector.
 20. The vehicular camera of claim 18, wherein arespective female connector of the first electrical connectoraccommodates misalignment of the respective male connector of the secondelectrical connector along an axis that is transverse to a longitudinalaxis of the respective male connector of the second electricalconnector.
 21. The vehicular camera of claim 18, wherein a respectivefemale connector of the first electrical connector accommodatesmisalignment of the respective male connector of the second electricalconnector along two axes that are transverse to each other and that aretransverse to a longitudinal axis of the respective male connector ofthe second electrical connector.
 22. The vehicular camera of claim 18,wherein, as the rear housing portion is mated with the front housingportion, the male connectors of the second electrical connector areinserted into the respective female connectors of the first electricalconnector until a stop element at the first electrical connector limitsmovement of the male connectors of the second electrical connectorrelative to the first electrical connector.
 23. The vehicular camera ofclaim 22, wherein the stop element is part of a connector housing at thefirst electrical connector.
 24. The vehicular camera of claim 18,wherein the housing comprises alignment structure to align the rearhousing portion with respect to the front housing portion as the rearhousing portion is mated with the front housing portion.
 25. Thevehicular camera of claim 18, wherein an imaging element is disposed atthe first side of the circuit board.
 26. A vehicular camera, thevehicular camera comprising: a housing comprising a front housingportion and a rear housing portion; a circuit board having a first sideand a second side opposite the first side and separated by a thicknessof the circuit board, wherein a first electrical connector is disposedat the second side of the circuit board; an imaging element electricallyconnected to circuitry of the circuit board, wherein the imaging elementcomprises a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) imagingsensor; wherein the rear housing portion mates with the front housingportion to encase the circuit board in the housing; wherein the rearhousing portion comprises a second electrical connector that, with therear housing portion mated with the front housing portion, electricallyconnects with the first electrical connector; wherein the rear housingportion comprises a socket connection portion configured to electricallyconnect to a plug connection portion of a vehicle wire harness when thevehicular camera is disposed at a vehicle; wherein the second electricalconnector comprises electrically conductive terminals that extendthrough the rear housing portion; wherein each of the electricallyconductive terminals comprises an inner end portion and an outer endportion, and wherein the inner end portion is physically andelectrically contiguous with the outer end portion; wherein the innerend portions of the electrically conductive terminals of the secondelectrical connector comprise male connectors that extend from an innersurface of the rear housing portion and are received in and electricallyconnect with respective female connectors of the first electricalconnector at the second side of the circuit board when the rear housingportion is mated with the front housing portion; wherein, as the rearhousing portion is mated with the front housing portion, the femaleconnectors of the first electrical connector accommodate misalignment ofthe first electrical connector and the second electrical connector;wherein, with the male connectors of the second electrical connectorreceived in respective female connectors of the first electricalconnector at the second side of the circuit board, the rear housingportion is attached at the front housing portion via a plurality ofthreaded fasteners; and wherein the outer end portions of theelectrically conductive terminals of the second electrical connectorextend through a wall of the rear housing portion into the socketconnection portion of the rear housing portion.
 27. The vehicular cameraof claim 26, wherein movement of a respective female connector of thefirst electrical connector is permitted along an adjustment axis that istransverse to a longitudinal axis of a respective male connector of thesecond electrical connector.
 28. The vehicular camera of claim 26,wherein a respective female connector of the first electrical connectoraccommodates misalignment of the respective male connector of the secondelectrical connector along an axis that is transverse to a longitudinalaxis of the respective male connector of the second electricalconnector.
 29. The vehicular camera of claim 26, wherein a respectivefemale connector of the first electrical connector accommodatesmisalignment of the respective male connector of the second electricalconnector along two axes that are transverse to each other and that aretransverse to a longitudinal axis of the respective male connector ofthe second electrical connector.
 30. The vehicular camera of claim 26,wherein, as the rear housing portion is mated with the front housingportion, the male connectors of the second electrical connector areinserted into the respective female connectors of the first electricalconnector until a stop element at the first electrical connector limitsmovement of the male connectors of the second electrical connectorrelative to the first electrical connector.
 31. The vehicular camera ofclaim 30, wherein the stop element is part of a connector housing at thefirst electrical connector.
 32. The vehicular camera of claim 26,wherein the plurality of threaded fasteners pass through respectivefastener apertures on one of the front housing portion and the rearhousing portion and are threaded into threaded apertures of the other ofthe front housing portion and the rear housing portion.
 33. Thevehicular camera of claim 26, wherein the housing comprises alignmentstructure to align the rear housing portion with respect to the fronthousing portion as the rear housing portion is mated with the fronthousing portion.
 34. The vehicular camera of claim 26, wherein theimaging element is disposed at the first side of the circuit board.